Before we start this episode, a quick warning - this episode will be dealing with the bush fires in Australia, as I mentioned at the top of the episode. We’ll be talking a lot about trauma associated with natural disasters and loss, so if that’s a topic that you don’t want to listen to for whatever reason, feel free to skip this episode.

The bushfires in Australia started in June of 2019. Fires are not uncommon during warmer months in Australia, but this season’s fires were especially devastating. The fires have burned through 46 million acres of land, heavily affecting densely populated regions, in particular New South Wales, destroying thousands of buildings and killing 34 people. The fires have killed over a billion animals and it's estimated to have done over $4.4 billion dollars in damages. Just now, as I type this on February 7th, 2020, there are finally news reports of rain which are starting to put out some of the fires, extinguishing about a third of the fires and potentially more in the coming days.

The bushfires have brought up questions of politics, disaster relief, and climate change—and one of the bright spots in all of this I saw, through my social networks, was a small, but powerful one. Demezla Jones, a coffee professional who’s the founder of Same Cup Coffee, told folks in Canberra, which is the capital of Australia, that if they were displaced or just needed a place to regroup and have a cup of coffee, that they could stop by a certain coffeeshop and have a drink on her. Just mention her name, no questions asked. I wanted to talk to Demezla more about what’s happening from her perspective, and how moments of turmoil affect folks specifically in the coffee industry, who often have to serve others in times of distress.

Photo by Ondrej Machart on Unsplash